MDPS 22

Chapter 22
My Dark Past Is Too Strong 
50th Floor (5)

Screeeech—
Bang!

The doors of the Audience Chamber slammed shut.

Blocking the retreat, Varg quickly thought to himself:

“Before they move… I have to finish this now!”

He knew it well.

As long as Hertia was here, he could not directly attack them first.

So, he decided to use another means of attack.

The blood of curses stored within the chandelier.

There was no time to hesitate. He immediately activated the mechanism of the throne and spilled the blood down.

Ssshhhhhh—!

And… it worked.

It worked far too easily, so much that even Varg himself could hardly believe it.

“Ha… haha… hahaha!”

Varg laughed.

“You let your guard down! Do you even know what it is you’ve just been doused in!?”

But even drenched in the cursed blood, Lucifer did not lose his smile.

To be greeted with a shower of blood the moment I entered the Audience Chamber.

I can’t help but worry if this outfit will even come clean after a wash.

“When it was a game, I didn’t mind… but facing it in person, it really is filthy. Damn vampires.”

Looking at all the debuffs piling up above my summons’ heads, I could tell this was going to be a troublesome enemy.

《Witch of the Apocalypse, Hertia, falls into the state ‘Corrupted Bloodstream.’》
⁝
《Flame Canopy, Temina, falls into the state ‘Corrupted Bloodstream.’》

This curse was the basic penalty upon entering the Audience Chamber.

That’s why defeating Varg had never been easy.

I, too, had simulated this battle countless times before attempting it.

【Corrupted Bloodstream】
Description: A cursed blood created by a vampire noble. When it touches the body, it corrupts the bloodstream and inflicts the state ‘Horrific Bleeding.’ While under ‘Horrific Bleeding,’ every movement causes the cursed blood to explode, dealing lethal damage.
Max stacks: 50

A debuff that deals heavy damage every time you take an action.

But above all, the biggest problem was…

《Effect ‘Blood Subjugation’ is activated on Death’s Liberator, Caligo.》

【Blood Subjugation】
Description: If a summoned priest-class unit falls into the ‘Horrific Bleeding’ state, it loses control. A subjugated summon cannot take any action during combat.

Exactly the summon I needed most, Caligo, was shackled by this cursed debuff.

“Haha! You didn’t know the cursed blood was stored in that chandelier, did you?”

Varg sneered, thinking he’d seized his chance.

“This situation’s hopeless for you! Even your Death’s Liberator is a powerless puppet now! Come at me with that curse upon you—before your bodies burst apart—”

“Caligo.”

Sorry, but you never had the advantage from the beginning.

“Hehehehe… I have long awaited this moment… and awaited it again.”

With madness in his eyes, Caligo walked straight toward Varg.

Seeing it, Varg’s face twisted in shock.

“Wh… what!? How!?”

How else? Gear.

《Artifact Blood-Drinking Grail activates its effect.》
《Blood-Drinking Grail protects Death’s Liberator, Caligo, from ‘Bleeding’ effects.》

“Ahahaha!”

Laughing like a lunatic, Caligo unfolded a massive magic circle.

A cube appeared from a crack in the air, and he poured the cursed blood into the empty spaces of the cube.

“This is my lecture hall now! Behold, pitiful creature! Witness the law of exchange that I, Caligo, have discovered!”

He threw the cube, and soon, a blood-written magic circle floated in the air.

“Law Reversal! From ‘Corrupted Bloodstream’… to ‘Refined Stream of Life’!”

Clink! Crackle! Clink! Clink!

《Caligo’s Law of Exchange converts the debuff ‘Corrupted Bloodstream’ into the buff ‘Enhanced Stream of Life’!》

At once, a blue glow wrapped around my summons’ bodies.

《Enhanced Stream of Life: Upon taking a hit, recover 20% HP per stack.》

Freed from the curse, Hertia stretched her body and spoke:

“Forgive me for keeping you waiting. I’ll be over there shortly.”

Varg was struck speechless.

“How… how did he escape the subjugation!?”

Blood Subjugation was a curse crafted by high vampires specifically to counter Caligo.

It was solely thanks to that powerful curse that their race survived while the elves fell.

And yet, even drenched in cursed blood, that insane butcher was perfectly fine!?

Then, Varg spotted something hanging from Caligo’s belt.

A chalice with a foreboding appearance.

It was hungrily drinking the blood flowing along Caligo’s body even now…

“The… the Grail! Why do you have the Blood-Drinking Grail!?”

“Shhh.”

With a mocking whisper, black threads shot out and pierced through Varg’s body in an instant.

“Do not raise your voice, lowborn. You are before the king.”

“Ghhhhh—!”

Agonizing pain and draining strength tormented Varg. Unfortunately, it was far from over.

“My fist moves on its own!!”

Boom!

Iron’s punch smashed into Varg’s left leg, sending the second limb flying into the wall and throwing him off balance.

“Grahhhhk!”

Clutching himself in pain, Varg threw up a protective barrier of magical spider threads.

But—

“Oh my, only three of them remembered me? That hurts my feelings. Don’t forget me! I’ll just melt those threads with my flames.”

Whrrrrrr!

Temina’s fire attack burned through the threads, leaving Varg unable to spew more.

He quickly recalculated.

“Caligo. I must target Caligo first! If I take him down, that cursed ‘Law Reversal’ ends too!”

From the decorative spider-eyes on his head, Varg shot venom directly at Caligo.

Shhhhhh!

The venom melted stone instantly, drenching Caligo.

Finally, thinking he’d found an opening, Varg shouted:

“Ha! That’s what happens when you let your guard down—”

But something was wrong.

The Caligo who was melting away under the venom… restored himself instantly.

“It’s too thin, too weak, too slow! Such poison can never kill me!”

The recovery granted by Law Reversal far outpaced the poison’s damage.

Laughing manically, Caligo pulled a dark green flask from his pocket.

He popped it open and hurled it at Varg.

Crash!

The flask shattered against Varg, splashing him with green liquid.

“Ghkk!”

Expecting terrible agony, Varg clenched his eyes shut—yet nothing happened. Confused, he looked at himself.

“What trick is this, Caligo!?”

“Oh? Your mouth still moves? The effect should be kicking in about now.”

The liquid seeped into the cracks of his body, absorbed by the skin.

Moments later, nausea and full-body paralysis overtook him.

《Skill: Bloom of Death – Effect 1 activates.》
《Seeds of Toxic Bloom sprout within Varg’s body, causing temporary neural paralysis!》

“This… this spell! No, it can’t be—”

“Oh, so you do remember it!”

Caligo tilted his head toward Temina behind him.

“Temina. The part of the body doesn’t matter, right?”

“Of course not.”

“Then—let’s bloom the flowers of death.”

Whrrrrrr!

Fire bullets burst from Temina’s umbrella, and Varg screamed as his body was torn apart.

“Graaaahhhh!”

《Bloom of Death – Effect 2 activates.》
《Toxic Bloom fully blossoms within Varg’s body, dealing 50% max HP as damage.》
《Skill: Most Ruthless Avenger activates!》
《Damage of Toxic Bloom blossoms greatly increases!》

“Guahhhk!”

From Varg’s body, the blossoms bore blackish-red fruits, spraying more than half of his blood outside.

Writhing in agony, Varg lost balance and collapsed forward.

“Tsk. Broken already? Where will I find my next test subject…”

“Y… you lunatic. I should’ve killed you… with your mother back then…”

Caligo stared at him with an uninterested face.

“I know. I think that too sometimes.”

Then he opened a flask at his belt and poured it down Varg’s throat.

At that moment—

Ding—!

《An unidentified adventurer has brutally slain the true boss of the 50th Floor, the King of the Blood Palace!》
《As a first clear reward for the Blood Palace, all adventurers receive the Blessing ‘Festival of Blood.’》
《Adventurers with this blessing may survive a lethal blow once per week, automatically recovering 20% HP.》

“…The hell is this now?”

I don’t recall such a blessing in the game.

No way.

If a buff this powerful existed, I definitely would’ve known.

Which means… this too is a new function added when the game became reality.

“…Still, something about it feels off.”

On the surface, it was incredibly encouraging.

Not only would fewer adventurers die climbing the tower, but it’d be a huge boon to my own clears.

But… it feels like one of those old RPGs where the game hands you a save point and tons of items right before a boss fight…

“…Forget it. Not the time to worry about that.”

First, I need to check the loot from this battle.

《You have cleared the 50th Floor of the Tower of Trials: The Blood Palace.》
《Unbelievable Record!》
《Time taken: 30 minutes 45 seconds.》
《You have set a new record in Clear Time Rankings.》
《Clear Rank: SSS》
《You have set a new record in Clear Rank.》
《Level Up! Adventurer Level is now 50.》

“Yes! This is what I live for!”

A flood of massive rewards filled my vision.

Among them, one truly caught my eye!

《First Clear Reward: You have obtained the Unique-grade Artifact, ‘Varg’s Spider-Eye Shield.’》

A ‘Unique’ grade artifact—only one exists in the entire world!

I was just about to check its options, when suddenly the message window shook again.

《Due to Record Breaking and Score Surpassing, additional reward under review…》

Ohhh, even more rewards! Totally worth the effort.

What kind of item will it be!?

《…Review complete.》
《As an additional reward for First Clear, you have obtained ‘Legacy of the Apocalypse.’》

Thud!

Along with the message, a massive chest glowing with dark violet light crashed before me.

And I couldn’t help but stand there caught between joy and bewilderment.

I mean, the reward was great and all, but…

“That name… Legacy of the Apocalypse?”